13/09/2005
NEWS STORY
Despite assurances given to Paul Stoddart when he sold Minardi to Red Bull at the weekend, there are fears that the future of the team's Faenza HQ, and its employees are very much in doubt.
In the wake of the purchase of Jaguar Racing, Red Bull boss Dietrich Mateschitz sent in his 'assistant', former F1 driver, Helmut Marko, aka The Rottweiler, to make his own assessment of the Milton Keynes outfit.
Marko wasted no time in ridding Jaguar Racing (as was) of those he thought not up to the job, those whose faces didn't fit, or merely those thought to be surplus to requirements. Gardening centres in and around the Milton Keynes area reported a boom in business.
Despite the assurances given to Stoddart, it is highly likely, and contrary to Red Bull's comments as the weekend, that the team will relocate and, in time, become Red Bull Team USA.
The Red Bull Driver Search programme is still rolling along churning out more and more eager young hopefuls, all intent on reaching the pinnacle of motorsport. Therefore the establishing of Red Bull Team USA is fast becoming a necessity as the programme adds more hopefuls to its growing list of graduates.
It's merely a matter of when, not if.